The Hiring Season for College Coaches

We are currently in the second most entertaining season in the college volleyball year - the Hiring Season. Each November the ncaa.org website starts to list available college coaching positions and not only NCAA positions, but openings in Junior Colleges and NAIA schools.


I say this because it has many elements of good entertainment - drama, surprise, heartbreak, innuendo, false premises - everything that would make daytime television a hit. Unfortunately, this is not television and a few careers are being ended, while others are just beginning - it can be an exhilarating time and a crushing time. I have experienced both ends of the spectrum.


The most entertaining part of this season is the volleyball message boards (Volleytalk and Prepvolleyball are the most common - but regional ones abound) and what information is posted. It becomes a contest between the posters about who can post the latest firing and hiring. In November and early December, it is all about the carnage of coaches. This is the time when people 'resign' (which RARELY happens), do not get renewed (a nice way of getting fired), move to another position or just get fired.


The boards are entertaining because of all the 'inside' information that the posters know - super cool assistant coach will get the job, she got fired because she asked for too much money, the position is filled and the announcement will come on Monday - we are not talking ESPN reporters here, but rather volleyball folks that have a passion for the rumors and gossip of college volleyball coaching.


Having gone on my share of interviews, it is amazing how wrong the message boards are - more often than not, the board is no where close to being correct. I have read about the 'inside' interview list for a position that did not get one person correct - how, because I was on that interview and the athletic director point blank told me who else was interviewing.


It is not just hiring, the posters get the departure reasons wrong - she left because she has a new business venture (no, she left because the new AD wanted their own coach), he quit because the program support was lacking (no, he got fired because he broke NCAA rules and got caught), etc.

By the way, a great majority of college coaches, at all levels, watch the message boards for pure entertainment - only the really silly/foolish coaches will post anything. But, for the rest of us, it is akin to reality TV, where we know the reality and others are so interested in trying to figure it out.

In college volleyball the reasons a coach will vacate a position:

1) A new Athletic Director is at the school and because the AD no longer controls the hiring/firing of Football and Basketball coaches (the school Presidents do this now), they want to control something and this is the Olympic Sport coaches.

2) The coach just got fed up dealing with all the hypocrisy and treatment of running a Division I program that does not receive support comparable to other programs in the conference - sometimes college coaches just get tired of being trotted out as the program that makes great grades, has good kids and wins, but the coach does not get a raise, they don't have a contract and they are doing fund raisers to be able to go recruiting.

3) They lost too many games for a few consecutive seasons. Winning is job insurance - as long as you do enough to look good, the job is secure. Very few departments care if the volleyball team is conference champions, but they just don't want to come in dead last.

If you look at all the changes during the Hiring Season, the reasons for coaches leaving will almost always be with above 3 examples - New AD, burn-out, lost games.

When it comes to the actual hiring of new coaches, things really become murky - it is a complete roll of the dice to see who will get hired. Some hires make sense to those in the volleyball community, while others are just so strange, you just shake your head.

The major influences that I have noticed with the hiring of new head coaches, is that a female is the number one preference and assistant coaches from Power conferences are very attractive.

The desire to have a female as the head coach of a women's sport makes sense -unfortunately, many schools pay their volleyball coaches a very low salary when you consider the responsibilities of the position. Instead of raising salaries for head coaches and thus attracting or keeping qualified candidates, the athletic departments will just lower their standards to offer the position to a female coach who is not yet qualified to lead a program. There are so many female coaches, which after being assistant coaches and seeing the way the athletic departments operate and the low pay, just move into a high school position (because it pays more!) or step away from coaching all together to get married and start a family. This has happened with a number of my female assistant coaches. If the schools would pay a salary comparable to the women's basketball coaches, there would be no shortage of female head coaches in women's volleyball!

Athletic directors have a strong attraction to those candidates that are coming from Power conferences - if the AD can say they just hired the #1 assistant coach from Nebraska or Texas, it looks good. I guess it is no different than buying name brand clothing - Everyone knows who Florida is, and they have a great volleyball program, so by association this assistant coach will be a great hire for the school. While there may be wonderful future head coaches at every power conference school, they are raw and just don't have the seasoning of a head coach who is at a mid-level or lower level conference program. Because of the way Power conferences are supported, the assistants have a false sense of reality about funding and support. The head coaches from the other conferences know how to recruit to schools that are not popular, know how to stretch the budget and know how to deal with athletes that are not in the top of every recruiting class.

Now that the Hiring Season is underway, just sit back and enjoy the show - it always has surprises!

NCAA Tournament Selection - The Reality

The at-large selections of the 64 teams for the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball National Championship always seems to cause a bit of a stir - why did this team get selected, why did that team get left out, who picks these teams, that team always gets in, etc.

Here is The Reality:

1. The team must be from one of the Volleyball power conferences - The Pac 10, the Big 10 and the Big 12 (the SEC is trying desperately to get into this group and it is because of football, not volleyball ability) - and be .500 in conference and overall. Each November, more than 15 at large selections are allocated to these conferences and sometimes the number can approach 20!

2. If you are not in a power conference, the California schools receive a number of at large bids. Just think about all the Cal State's and UC's that put teams into the tournament - most of the US has never heard of them, but the old school selection committee knows them well.

3. At large bids going to a mid-major Volleyball conference (Mountain West, C-USA, ACC, Big East, Missouri Valley) is like using the Magic 8 Ball - you never know. We constantly hear from our conferences about scheduling tougher, playing more top 50 teams, winning on the road, winning late, eating our spinach - there are a bunch of theories, but they are all bunk. For every example of someone getting an at large, there are three examples of teams more deserving not getting a bid.

4. For those unfortunate conferences that are not Power or Mid-Major, there will only be one team to get a bid - period, end of story.

Now for the Reality that is really tough:

1. Teams that have been there before, multiple times, will get a free pass to the show during down seasons - especially long standing programs.

2. Teams that are coached by a female head coach, will get the first look - the NCAA is desperate to develop female coaches in volleyball. Instead of raising salaries and support, like the NCAA did for women's basketball, they do this instead.

3. If your school/conference has an administrator on the selection committee, you are looking good.

4. RPI does not mean anything.

In the selection for the NCAA Championship, I don't think volleyball is any different than the other sports - big conferences get too many, mid level conferences are in limbo and the politics of it all should be embarrassing.

How to Play in Club Tournaments

So, you are going off to a big club tournament, crawling with a number of college programs there to scout you. Should you play any different at this big tournament, than the local one you were at last week where the only people there were parents?

The answer - No and Yes.


First the No: You do not have the power to significantly change how well you play - other than having a slighter better match or slightly worse match, you are still the same player no matter what venue you are in. Since you cannot instantly elevate your skills to the next level, do not even worry about trying to play 'better' in the big tournament. Let go of that thought because all it will do is create unwanted pressure.

Now the Yes: You need to display your best volleyball identity at the large tournaments where college programs are evaluating Prospective Student Athletes (PSA's). This is no different than going out on a date - you can't change who you are, but you can look and act your best. In a very real sense, you are making a non-verbal statement to all the college coaches about you as a volleyball player and as a person.


As direct as this may sound, if you have reached the Club volleyball playing age where college coaches are significant (17's and older), you must respect what these big tournaments represent. You and/or your parents have invested money (sometimes a lot of money) into providing this opportunity of displaying your talent to individuals who will pay for all of your expenses to graduate from college. This is the time and place to be the best version of yourself.

When trying to put forth your best face, these are things that usually impress me about players at Club tournaments:

- They are relaxed but not silly or acting goofy.

- Focus during the warm-up is evident - good effort on every touch and not looking off into the crowd.

- When they make a great play, they celebrate with their team mates.

- When their team mate makes a great play, they celebrate with that player.

- On those games when a player is struggling, they don't lose focus - no negative outbursts, no sour faces, no selfish action; they just keep working hard and staying positive.

- The wins should be celebrated and the losses should sting a little. Too many times the wins and losses are blown off, because another match is coming quickly - I need to see from a PSA that winning and losing matters.

- Being respectful of coaches and parents. No matter how great you played or how big a stud you are, parents and coaches are adults and should be treated as such.

Because of Division I rules, these Club tournaments are your tryout for college volleyball programs - Division II can have you tryout or train with the team, so coaches can get a very good feel for you as a person and player.

Please be relaxed, focus and play with sincere intensity - these are the characteristics that colleges coaches evaluate, beyond your physical ability. The good programs are very aware of your non-playing abilities because they know that bad or selfish attitudes can wreck a good physical team.

Club Volleyball - Choose Wisely!

USA Junior Volleyball Clubs have become the avenue to improve your abilities and your scholarship opportunities - in theory.

The current state of Club volleyball has way too many teams. As club coaches and parents have discovered, establishing a Club team can be as easy as finding a gym and filling out paperwork. USA Volleyball provides all the registration forms, insurance coverage, instructional manuals - why is USA Volleyball this proactive? One, to bring more volleyball players into the umbrella of USA Volleyball where they can be have more volleyball playing opportunities. Two, to generate more operational money via membership fees and tournament registration fees. USA Volleyball is like a union - the more dues paying union members, the better it is for the union (or at least the directors).

This over-abundance of Club teams has watered down the positives of playing Club volleyball. While the sheer increase of Club teams has led to more roster spots for players, it has also led to less quality teams and coaches; a tough combination if your primary goal in joining a Club team is to improve your abilities. Currently, there is a bit of a Club team revolt going on in the Junior volleyball community against USA Volleyball. A large number of the better Club team directors, feel that USA Volleyball is more interested in quantity versus quality tournaments - bigger tournaments mean more money. Because these very large tournaments (I am talking 100 courts in a convention center) potentially dilute the quality of competition, the top Club teams feel that the early rounds are just throw away matches. To this end, a surprising number of Club programs have formed their own national type tournaments outside of the USA Junior Volleyball guidelines.

The hard truth is that our sport has more players than it does good coaches. By good coaches, I mean individuals that have some level of adult maturity and the background in technical skill instruction and game management. When I stepped into college coaching, after a stellar NCAA career and lengthy professional accomplishments, I realized just how little I knew about the actual coaching of volleyball - technical skill instruction, player management, game coaching. Because there are so many Club teams, the number of good club coaches cannot keep up - they have to draft into service inexperienced college players, uneducated high school coaches, adults who played back in high school. I will go to Club tournaments and just be amazed by the lack of quality coaching and leadership.


In volleyball and I would think all athletics, you improve by either receiving quality skill instruction or mimicking the skills of other players that are superior to you. With so many Club teams, the number of quality players gets distributed thinly - there are not enough good players to fill up all the teams. What happens is that Club teams may have, what college coaches would consider, one solid player and the rest are just average. Since the majority players are average in skill, unless the team has a superior technical coach, the players will remain average throughout the year because they will be practicing with average players and competing against teams that are filled with average players.


If the goal of your Club volleyball participation is to garner a college scholarship, the sheer numbers of Club teams will not help you. Some may think that if you are a good player on an average team, your skills will stand out by comparison. This argument is true on the surface, but college coaches get paid to see through these situations and to evaluate your abilities. Because there are so many Club teams, it is hard for for college coaches to sift through all the non-elite level teams in a large tournament.


The larger Junior tournaments have their age groups divided into Open and Club levels - which is volleyball speak for good teams and not good teams. If you wander about a Junior tournament, you will see the college coaches congregating at the Open courts and a scarce few on the Club courts. If the tournament runs in waves, the college coaches perform a subtle disappearing act when the Club wave begins.

To bring everything together - choose your Club program wisely and examine exactly what you want to obtain from your participation. This costs money, so you are paying for the experience - here are some general guidelines:

- If participation and social interaction is your goal, then a Club program that is defined as local would be best. Local is the least expensive of the Club teams, will only practice once or twice a week and will play in tournaments generally close to home.

- If the goal is to improve your playing ability, while getting a feel for Club volleyball and not spend a ton of money, then a regional team is the way to go. Regional teams are still not too costly, will practice a couple of times a week and tend to play in a variety of tournaments that will allow you to attain a higher level of skills by the end of the season. These regional type teams tend to play in the Club division of the big tournaments.

- For those wanting to aggressively pursue college scholarships and physically prepare for the higher level of ability required in college volleyball, then a national team is for you. National teams practice a few times a week, play a very expansive tournament schedule that focuses on the USA Junior Qualifiers and the season will run from November to July. This is also the most costly of the Club volleyball options, with seasonal costs easily passing $10,000.00.

When choosing a type of Club team, be very aware of your goals and how the potential Club team will fulfill them. Many Club teams really want to be a national type team, but unless they can garner top flight players and get accepted into top tier tournaments, they may become a regional team by default.

If you just wish to be on a local team, then it is a rather easy process - find out which teams are local, by communicating with your USA Volleyball Regional Commissioner (www.usavolleyball.org) and then arrange to go to a tryout or open gym. For a regional team, you have to be a bit more inquisitive in your communication with the Club directors - ask what the costs are, what is the proposed tournament schedule, what is the playing philosophy of the team, how many times a week will be practice and where?

In looking at a national Club team, you should consider trying out for a few such programs, if your location allows for this. If there is only one potential national team in your area, then the choice is made for you. But, if you live in a region of the country that has a few such teams, then plan on visiting/trying out for all of them to see what the coaching staff is like, what the talent of the team is like (for instance, if a Club team has a few great hitters, but the setter is poor, then that may not be the best choice) and what are the anticipated costs. Since this level has the highest costs, the most potential for scholarships and the biggest time demands, you should expend the most effort in your selection.

Club volleyball can be a wonderful investment in your future and volleyball enjoyment or it can be an extremely frustrating waste of time and money. Somethings are just out of your control, but if you take time to choose wisely then I believe the odds are significantly better to have a great experience!

Memo to NCAA Rules Committee - STOP WORKING!

When I was a kid, I remember seeing some cartoon where a sculptor keeps working on a statue, keeps chiseling here, taking a bit off there, keeps messing with it until the original 10 foot statue is now a 6 inch figurine. This is how I feel about the NCAA Rules Committee!

It was my understanding that the NCAA Rules Committee was formed as a reaction to the college volleyball playing rules being determined by a group other than the NCAA or its volleyball coaches, and the growing influence that the FIVB, via USA Volleyball, was exerting upon college volleyball. I agree that we (NCAA Volleyball coaches) should determine our playing rules and not someone else.

Unfortunately, the NCAA Volleyball Rules Committee now seems to have reached the point where it is submitting rule proposals and voting surveys to keep perpetuating its own existence. We need to take the chisel out of the hands of the committee and put the statue on display for a few years. Let's take NCAA Volleyball, unadjusted, out for a long term test drive.

The latest rules survey that I received asked for coaches opinions on the following:

- Elimination of 2nd and/or 3rd contact double hits.

- Follow the FIVB rules to allow the discretionary calling of non-1st contact double hits by the official, dependent upon the length of a rally; i.e. don't stop an exciting, long rally with a double hit call.

- Change the length of games to 25 points to replicate FIVB rules.

- Change the name of games to sets or visa versa, to follow FIVB terminology (too many proposals to accurately remember this one, but it was to match up with the FIVB).

I would not have such strong opinions about voting upon such matters, but when we college coaches have filled out such surveys, the majority opinion has not won. The change to rally score proposal was voted down by coaches and conferences, but it still passed into volleyball law. Because of this history, it really gives no encouragement to even take time to send in my opinion.

Just this week, I receive a Call for Proposals for new NCAA Volleyball rules. Again, the impression that I have of the NCAA Rules Committee is it is just trying to propagate its existence. I am sending my form back, proposing that there be no more rule changes for 5 years - let's at least allow one incoming volleyball student-athlete class to play their career under one set of unchanging rules.

I actually had a former athletic director, my immediate supervisor in the department and who was a member of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Executive Committee, ask me why volleyball keeps making significant rule changes every year - she just could not understand it and I could not explain it.

My philosophical argument against the NCAA Rules Committee and the never ending rule changes, is that it takes the collective college volleyball focus away from important issues and places it upon the very small commune of volleyball policy wonks.

Women's Basketball and Softball are beating us administratively within the NCAA. Women's Soccer is threatening to take the title of being the women's sport of the Fall Semester away from Volleyball. I don't know these sports, but I have seen them enough on my own campus and I am friends with their coaches to feel that they are not wasting time and effort making continuous rule changes. Let's be honest, Softball and Soccer could stand to do something to make it more exciting of a spectator sport, but they have stood by the beauty of their respective sports and they are making yearly gains.

Our collective college volleyball focus should be on agitating to improve the operational funding, promotional marketing, and professional salaries for volleyball. This is exactly what NCAA Women's Basketball did 15 years ago. Now, the Assistant Basketball coaches in the power conferences enjoy salaries of over $100,000.00 and I promise you that every NCAA Women's Basketball 1st Assistant Coach makes as much or more than the Head Volleyball coaches at 90% of the same schools. And here we are, the college volleyball coaches spending effort to determine the viability of calling or not calling 2nd/3rd contact double hits! AMAZING!

We will never be more than a glorified high school women's sport, as a whole, until we start acting like a big time Division I athletics entity. Women's Volleyball hears the word "no" once and it folds. My hat is off to Lindy Vivas for having the fortitude to bring a lawsuit against Fresno State for the treatment that she and the volleyball program received - does not matter that she won the suit, what mattered is she stepped up and demanded better.

People like to create, they like to tinker - whether is home improvement, cooking, gardening, anything, it is human nature to fiddle with things. We need to stop fiddling with our sport and start fiddling with the NCAA. Right now, our overactive NCAA Rules Committee keeps us fiddling with our sport.

VOLLEYBALL RECRUITING - Part IV - Senior Year

The Senior year of high school is when a bit of panic can start to set in with the recruiting process. Back in the day, Volleyball Prospective Student Athletes (PSA's) did not even begin to visit schools until the Fall and would wait to make a commitment around Thanksgiving! With the accelerated recruiting process of today, by the time the Senior year comes to be, many families start to become worried.

Don't be! As long as you have an open mind about possibilities, then everything will work out fine. We will look at the final year of recruiting in two ways - If you have followed Parts I through III or if you are just starting.

If you have been able to apply suggestions from Parts I, II, or III, you should be in a position to take a realistic look at the recruiting situation. During the early part of the Fall semester in High School, you need to evaluate where you stand with the schools with which you have been interactive. How many coaches on your list of potential schools are still active in recruiting you? You can only find this out by being direct in your communication with coaches. Some of the schools, may have already let you know that they have completed their recruiting process; for the others, you need to contact them to find out.

Once you have assembled a current active list of schools, you should make a decision - Are there enough potential schools or do you wish to add more. If you don't have at least 7 schools that are sincerely recruiting you (active with e-mails, talking to you over the phone, etc) then you should add more colleges. You add more colleges by immediately sending out e-mails and making telephone calls to a realistic list of schools.

By realistic, I mean schools that are still recruiting PSA's. By the Senior year of a recruiting class, the majority of the power conference schools have finished their incoming class, along with many of the mid-major programs. Contacting a top 10 program, even if you have always wanted to go there, is going to be a waste of your time.

Try to be open when you look at where you would want to go - some parts of the country have a congregation of Division I schools while other areas are rather sparse. If you are willing to travel away from home, you will have greater options available. If you are willing to consider different size schools, you will increase your choices.

After you have re-vamped your list to include new schools, contact them immediately with an e-mail/telephone call, to ask if they are still recruiting and if so, send them your skills tape. Since the Early Signing Period is in November, you have window of 3 months.

If you have not been able to follow Parts I through III and are just starting out, you have no time to waste if you want to sign with a Division I program. IMMEDIATELY put together a video tape of your skills (not games), along with a recruiting bio sheet that contains your most current information (name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, position played, height, weight, approach jump, blocking jump, g.p.a. and ACT/SAT test scores). Next, generate a realistic list of schools to contact - this list should be at least 50 schools, should be nationally focused and should not be power conference programs.

You are coming in very late to the Division I recruiting process and must be exact in who you contact. Use e-mail and phone calls to initiate contact with programs, snail mail will take too long. With an e-mail, you should attach an information sheet and be patient with a response - during the playing season college coaches get hundreds of e-mails a week. You can find direct telephone numbers for coaches on the school's athletic web site - when you call, odds are that you will get a message machine - leave a short, simple voice mail with your name, YEAR IN SCHOOL (this way they know if NCAA rules allow a call back), position and telephone number.

When starting late, your best bet is to get your information out to as many schools as possible, as quickly as possible and be as aggressive as possible. Sending out a couple of letters and hoping for the best will not work.

Whether you are starting late or have been active in the recruiting process for a couple of years, if you reach the Early Signing Period of your Senior year and do not have an offer from an attractive Division I school, then it is time to seriously consider your non-Division I options. This is because the number of available Division I scholarships will be limited for the Late Signing Period which arrives in the spring.

These are your non-Division I options: NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and Junior Colleges. While the NCAA Division I schools enjoy a significant advantage in media exposure and reputations, there are many other schools that actually provide better support for their volleyball programs than some Division I programs. Unfortunately, quite a number of Division I athletic departments just want to be successful in football and basketball, so their Olympic Sports (Volleyball, Softball, Soccer, etc) are funded in a minimal level to free up resources for the chosen sports. I know of a number of Division II and Junior College programs that have better equipment, travel better and have more scholarships than many Division I teams.

Each classification of college volleyball has unique scholarship levels: Division I funds 12 scholarships (if a school fully funds the program) and only 12 players can be on scholarship (this is why Division I volleyball is called a Head Count sport); Division II can fund 8 scholarships if the school chooses, but any number of players can be on some type of scholarship, provided the total scholarships equal 8 (this is called an Equivalency sport); Division III schools only provide academic scholarships for players; Junior Colleges and NAIA schools are funded at the discretion of the school - each school decides at what level to allocate scholarships - usually if a JC or NAIA program is traditionally successful, then they have a large number of scholarships.

If you are an average volleyball player, with a solid set of skills and want to play during college, then you should consider Division II or NAIA. If you want to focus on your education, yet stay active in volleyball, then Division III is your best fit. The NAIA classification can be a good choice for PSA's that have a certain religious orientation (a number of Baptist and Wesleyan or Nazarene colleges are NAIA) or may struggle with some of the academic qualifications germane to NCAA schools. If you are a good volleyball player, who got a very late start or got a low score on your ACT/SAT tests, then Junior College could be a great choice - it allows you to get plenty of playing time, improve your academic standing, then transfer to a Division I school for your Junior year.

Your Senior year is your final year to garner a school for your academic and volleyball future. The most important thing is to be active in the process - be interactive with college coaches, evaluate your options, contact new schools to introduce yourself, be flexible in considering many different avenues.

I enjoyed a very successful collegiate career and graduated from a top academic institution, but I was the one who initiated contact and made it happen. Only a few gifted volleyball players have the scholarships delivered on a silver platter - the rest of must work for what we want.

To FIVB or not to FIVB - That is the Question

NCAA Volleyball has a strange relationship with FIVB rules (the ones that that USA Junior Volleyball programs compete under). We have reached the point in our NCAA Volleyball rules that we have to go all in or stay all out of the FIVB. Our current hybrid-crossover set of rules is only hurting NCAA Volleyball.

Within the last 10 years, NCAA Volleyball has seen some significant rule changes and none more impactive than the scoring change to rally score. Agree or disagree with the change (by the way, I strongly disagree with the change - it is akin to going with 10 minute basketball halves), it is here to stay. The change to rally score has been supported with a variety of hollow arguments and suppositions, yet the one clear influence was to align with the FIVB or international rules of the game. At the time of our voting on the rules proposal, which the majority of coaches and conferences voted AGAINST, the FIVB had already moved into rally scoring.

Yet, it seems with the independent streak inherent in being an American, we came up with our own unique set of rules for NCAA Volleyball, which borrowed from the FIVB. Some basic differences in the NCAA rules and FIVB rules:

- NCAA plays to 30, FIVB to 25.

- Libero can serve in NCAA, but not in FIVB.

- NCAA allows 15 substitutions with unlimited entry, the FIVB has 6 with only 1 entry.

- NCAA has no automatic time outs (except during television/radio) while the FIVB does.

These are significant differences, the NCAA rules have longer games (which I agree with), Libero is on the floor 5.5 rotations (I disagree) and position specialization through substitutions (disagree with strongly).

By playing under the new NCAA rules the last number of years, we have seen a negative impact upon the high end talent of the USA players. Oganna Nnamani, a numerous NCAA award honoree and current outside hitter with USA Volleyball, struggles to pass and play defense at the international level - the argument could be made that she did not have to learn to pass because at Stanford, the Libero and virtually unlimited substitutions allowed her to hide from passing. Our NCAA middle blockers can't play backrow defense and in fact, one middle blocker per team does not even have to go into the back row. Currently, our national team coaches feel that they have to teach skills that should have been mastered years ago at the college level.

The newest departure that is being considered for the hybrid NCAA rules, is to allow double hits on each and every contact. Currently our rules are so loose that many players are consistently allowed to double hit the ball when setting, and thus not learn to set correctly. Now, NCAA Volleyball is going to allow this officiating shortcoming to become law and teach a whole generation, including setters, not to focus on setting.

This rule change will have a negative impact upon those players that wish to engage upon the quest to continue playing volleyball at a level above college. What we are considering would be similar to allowing baseball players to only strike out swinging the bat, because the umpires can't be consistent with the strike zone - great for the umpires, but the college baseball players will be ill prepared for the next level.

Some may argue that it is not the NCAA Volleyball community's responsibility to develop players for the national team or professional level - but I disagree. Isn't higher education about preparing students to excel at the highest levels after college? We are not taking chemistry students and preparing them to make Kool Aid - Chemistry professors are developing the abilities of their students to reach the highest possible levels of their proposed profession.

As NCAA Volleyball coaches and administrators, we should be preparing our student-athletes to achieve the highest possible level of play and that means international competition. Our players may not have the natural talent abilities to get there, but we should train them as if they do.

We cannot continue with this hybrid of volleyball rules - it is distracting to the players, the coaches and the fans. The NCAA rules are constantly in flux - I can't tell you how many times a referee has referenced incorrect rules when explaining a call to me - the college volleyball community can't keep up.

A decision needs to be made - NCAA Volleyball either follows FIVB rules or does not. If we do not follow FIVB rules, then we need to make a conscience effort to determine what set of rules is best for NCAA Women's Volleyball and implement these rules completely and stick to them, not reference the FIVB rules whenever the some entity wishes to tweak the NCAA rules and wants to use the FIVB as justification.

I have never been a big fan of the FIVB (remember, I played with our National Team, professionally in Europe and I coached in an international professional league) because they tend to be antagonistic towards American volleyball. Yet, I have come to respect them more, because unlike NCAA Volleyball, they are not changing their rules every year with no positive outcome.

The Unofficial Visit - it is the new Official Visit!

With Prospective Student Athletes (PSA's) making earlier and earlier verbal commitment to college programs, the Unofficial Visit has dramatically increased in importance. I suggest that you take a few initial Unofficial Visits at the end of your Sophomore year to get a feel for the experience and schools, but you should really focus on visits once you get into the early days of club volleyball during your Junior year.

Back in the 'good old days' (which were actually rather nice), Unofficial Visits were taken just on a regional basis and usually when there was a strong connection with a school (alumni, team mate went there) - going out of state was rare, because of the time and cost considerations. A mid west school I was at, rarely had border state PSA's coming to campus for a visit - now, families are flying cross country to see a school at their own expense.

Because of the Internet age, information is more readily available to PSA's and sincere interaction between coaches and recruits is commonplace. Also, as the club volleyball system has become more of a business, these organizations are much more active in assisting families with the process. This has created a situation where the Unofficial Visit is now the in-person feedback on a potential school.

So, how do you go about an Unofficial Visit? First off, remember that an Unofficial Visit is very close to an Official Visit, with two exceptions; 1) The school may not pay for anything during your visit (except Division II which can provide one meal on campus), but you can spend the night on campus if you pay the customary overnight fee (determined by the admissions office), 2) The coaching staff may not have any off-campus contact during a visit - they can't give you a tour of the town or share a meal at a non-campus restaurant. Other than those two general examples, the Unofficial Visit is just like an Official Visit.

It is important that you treat your trip as a de facto Official Visit; take a campus and athletic facility tour, spend the night in the residence halls, eat a meal in the cafeteria, schedule a meeting with the Athletic Department academic person and the school's academic representative in the major you wish to pursue, watch the team practice and SPEND time with the players.

All of these items should be requested by you via e-mail or during a phone call that you initiate. Remember that an Unofficial Visit can occur at any time (outside of a Dead Period) and you can engage in as many as you wish. Be direct in letting the coach know what you wish to see and who you would like to meet with. Plan on your parents being with you, because having a couple of extra eyes looking around is a good thing. Once you have communicated with the program, they should have everything arranged for you and all set up. If the coaches are taking a relaxed or low key approach to the visit and have not fulfilled your request, then this should be a clear signal that they are doing this as a courtesy, in case their top recruits do not work out.

Spending time with the other players would probably be the most important thing you can do. If you have been interactive with the staff and done a bit of research about possible majors and campus characteristics, you should have a good feel about these areas. What you need to know is what are the other players like. If they are sincere and supportive during your visit, odds are they will be that way when you are a freshman. Also, you should be hanging out with Freshman and Sophomores, not Juniors and Seniors - the upperclassmen will not be there by the time you come onto campus. If you are not with underclassmen or those underclassmen are not good kids, then red flags should be going up.

With the Unofficial Visit being the visit before making a decision, you should time your trip to coincide with some type of training session. The non-traditional season (Spring) only allows for weekend tournaments/matches, that are rarely on a school's campus - ask to go watch a training session; if you are visiting a Division II school, you can be involved in the training session! By seeing a practice, you will get a feel for the training philosophy of the program.

The Unofficial Visit has dramatically increased in importance; gone are the days of a casual trip to hang out on campus. Now, you must be focused on details and aware of many different impressions - this is your one and possibly only opportunity to determine if this school could be your future!

VOLLEYBALL RECRUITING - Part III - Junior Year

The Junior year of high school could be the most important time span for the recruiting process. If you have followed the suggestions for your Freshman and Sophomore years, then you should be well positioned in the recruiting game. If you are a bit behind, don't worry - there is still plenty of time to get things rolling.

In the fall of your Junior year, your focus should be two fold - 1) Maximizing the training and competition opportunities available during the high school season, 2) Developing a Holiday game plan for jump starting the New Year recruiting cycle.

During your high school season, you have the chance to get better. If you are like most college bound players, you probably are one of the better players on your team and might have just finished a competitive club season with a bit more current coaching instruction. Even though you may have developed beyond the parameters of your high school team, you need to maximize the opportunity of being in the gym each day and touching a volleyball. Our sport is not like golf or tennis, where you can get good training in a solo or one on one environment - in volleyball, you need to be with other players to get better. Don't waste this time by just coasting on your current talent during practice and matches - PUSH yourself to eliminate mistakes, become better with advanced skills, focus on being the best possible volleyball player. This is how you get ready for a very important junior club volleyball season.

Your Holiday game plan - these are the steps necessary to prepare for the upcoming season, both club and recruiting seasons: 1) Make Skills tape, 2) List all the schools that have sent you a questionnaire and rank them, 2) Develop a list of new schools you wish to contact, 3) Send out Skills tape and updated recruiting information to current and potential schools, 4) Be active with e-mails and letters.

Numbers 1, 2, and 3 should all be done by December 1st - by this date you should be aware of your junior team and your schedule. Number 4 is on going and it is important to stay active in the process. Remember, if you are a good outside hitter, the college coach is actively engaged with 10 of you. While you don't have to be an e-mail buddy with college coaches, you should stay in touch every week or so.

This December time period is important, because the Division I programs are about to enter a restricted recruiting period (Quiet and Dead), and are also going to take some time off for the Holidays. If you can get your information into them in early December, it allows programs to plan on seeing you after the Holidays are over in an early Juniors tournament. For Division II programs, the recruiting period is much more open, and these programs will come see you play earlier if they know about you.

As you select your club team, be conscience of what type of team - regional or national. National teams get seen by more college coaches than regional teams and from further away colleges. Your Junior year is the showcase year - this is where you want to be seen by as many coaches as possible and as often as possible by these coaches.

By your Junior year, you have physically matured closer to a typical college volleyball build, than during your Sophomore year and your skills have either advanced or leveled out. These are the things that college coaches get paid to evaluate. Sometimes this evaluation is done over a few tournaments and sometimes a coach will only be able to see you play one time. While we don't want to put any undue pressure upon athletes, we need to see what type of a volleyball player you are - because of this, it is very important that you are prepared and focused for each match. You never know what college program is watching you.

The first part of the club season will have a big rush of college coaches at allowed tournaments (January 1st for Division II schools and Martin Luther King Day for Division I) - this is because coaches want to get an early look at all those Sophomores they saw last spring, and many programs may not have completed recruiting for the Senior class. This leads to hordes of college coaches and lots of 'buzz' at early events. Play hard, but don't read too much into coaches being at your court or not being at your court - just play volleyball.

As the club season starts to move into March, then you (better yet, your parents) should be a bit more aware of who is watching you and who is not. This is because you may wish to explore taking an Unofficial Visit to a campus or two. You may really want to go to State U., but if they have not seen you play in person, then you are probably not in the top 3 for them.

By March, the majority of schools have set their top PSA's for each position and are interested in having them make time to come for an Unofficial Visit. You need to know what schools are serious, just ask them where you rank, because you don't have weekends to waste. If you are interested in a school and they have seriously recruited you, and you have the invitation to make an Unofficial Visit - you need to make the visit.

If I have done my job evaluating the PSA's, then my top 3 players are all very close in abilities - that way if I don't get my #1 player, my #2 player is just as good. The last thing that I want to do is lose my #2 player to another school, if my #1 player is not ready to make a visit. This line of reasoning, common in all recruiting levels, is why it is important for PSA's to be active in the recruiting process.

The time frame for verbal commitments continues to speed up, yet mid-way through the club season tends to be the start of numerous commitments. The college coaches have made their rankings and extended offers, and if the PSA's have visited campus, they may be comfortable with accepting. This is why it is so important that your recruiting game plan be put into action before the Holidays, because before you know it, the spring is here and so are big decisions.

As you move through the spring and into the summer, you need to evaluate your situation. How many of the schools you are interested in are still recruiting you? You find this out by calling or e-mailing the coach to find out - if the coach hedges or stays away from a definitive answer, then you have your answer. If you feel you have numerous programs still seriously recruiting you, then you should feel good.

If you don't feel good, then re-evaluate your potential schools. Maybe it is time to look schools in different conferences, different size schools, maybe Division II, III or JC/NAIA schools. Once you make this determination, then immediately send out the skills tape and recruiting information - get your name out to new schools now.

Even though it may seem like scholarships are flying off the shelves, there are plenty of quality schools and programs still looking for good volleyball players. Keep an open mind to possibilities - I have been around college volleyball long enough to learn that most things work out for the best.

Our Own Worst Enemy

Like all volleyball folks, I wish our sport had more - funding, fans, marketing, scholarships, salaries, exposure on television - just more. Yet, when I look at our sport at the high school, college and Olympic levels, I honestly believe we are our own worst enemy.

Today, I was at the High School Volleyball All-State matches and saw a clear example of why our sport continues to come up short - and it is our own fault. During the awarding of the all-state plaques, there was an honorary award given to an older lady who was a retired teacher and coach. During the reading of all her accomplishments, the announcer spoke multiple times of this honoree being in the National and State High School Hall of Fame for Softball and Gymnastics! There was only one mention of her being a former Volleyball coach, yet there was not a doubt she was very accomplished in other sports.

Amazing! Over 50 deserving high school volleyball players and all their friends and families are in attendance, yet the event honors someone who is known for softball and gymnastics. Volleyball is the sole purpose of this day, it is being run by volleyball focused individuals and even then, we cannot manage our own sport!!

I am rather sure that at the High School Softball All-State game, they are not giving away an honorary award to a tennis coach! Yet, we are happy to honor another sport at our event.

Unfortunately, examples of this kind of volleyball negligence abound:

- When the NCAA altered the women's volleyball playing season rules, the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) was abandoned. Yet there was no outcry from the college coaches or student-athletes about post-season playing opportunities being denied to female athletes. I guarantee you that if the NCAA had removed the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) from Women's Basketball, there would have been a huge out cry of protest!

- Our USA Women's Olympic Volleyball team has been coached by non-USA citizens the last two Olympics. For some reason the volleyball community is fine with this situation - when I asked a couple of my international athletes what would happen if a non-citizen coached their Olympic team, they laughed and said it would never happen.

- The NCAA tentatively passed legislation adding a 13th scholarship to women's volleyball. When the proposal was tabled, to allow for a re vote, which then reversed the scholarship, there was no reaction or protest about opportunities being removed for women athletes.

Unfortunately, these are just a couple of examples of volleyball, at all levels, not demanding better treatment and conducting ourselves like a big time sport. I cannot stand to watch women's basketball or softball, I think they pale in comparison to volleyball, but they have bettered us in every opportunity to elevate the standing of their sports.

Consider the level of support volleyball could be enjoying if we just demanded respect, focused on maximizing the opportunities presented to us, and did not put energy into frivolous, small minded issues.

NCAA Early Signing Period - DO NOT WORRY

Division I and Division II Women's Volleyball is in the Early Signing Period - November 14th to November 21st. If you have received a National Letter of Intent (NLI) and have signed or will sign during the Early Signing Period - CONGRATULATIONS!

Remember, the NLI is a legally binding document that obligates the school and the volleyball player to each other, under the financial support terms listed on your NLI. Only under the most unique circumstances will a NLI be made void.

If you did not receive a NLI or you are not feeling too good about signing a NLI that you have in front of you - DO NOT WORRY.

This is the Early Signing Period - which means there will be a Late Signing Period. While it may look great to sign early, there are a significant number of quality volleyball players who make their choice of schools and sign their NLI during the Late Signing Period.

Currently, the college volleyball season is coming to a close. Because of this, many schools are gearing up for their final weekend of the year, going off to conference championships or training for post season competition. While recruiting is very important, this is also the peak of the crucial competition time span.

After this weekend, those programs that don't have the luxury of fielding a full allotment of assistant coaches and administrative support personnel, can move onto focusing on recruiting. Granted, while a number of NCAA DI and DII programs have extended NLI's and will sign their recruits, a great many of the schools have not. Even those schools that are extending offers during the early signing period, will hold a scholarship or two for the late signing period.

Once the season has finished, then coaches will be able to figure out exactly what they need for the next year. It is during the months of November and December, that the serious stuff happens. Athletic Directors hire and fire Head Coaches, Head Coaches resign or take new jobs, players decide to transfer or just be students, injuries to players are determined to be manageable or career ending - All of these things determine how many scholarships will be available for the Late Signing Period.

As a Prospective Student Athlete (PSA) and parent, if you did not receive a NLI, the best thing to do is focus on Junior Club Volleyball - get ready for the club season. Club Volleyball is where colleges will go to find their Late Signing Period recruits - if you are focused, talented and match the school to your given academic/athletic abilities, then you will be signing a NLI come next April!

A Lawsuit - When to Consider One as a Coach

Part of being a volleyball coach at any level is dealing with situations that are not fair or equitable. As any long time volleyball coach, high school or college, can share - the list of potential Title 9 (http://www.wikipedia.com) inequities and discriminatory situations are lengthy.

A few college coaches have been motivated to file lawsuits because of situations that they felt were discriminatory - the most recent was Lindy Vivas and her successful lawsuit against Fresno State University.

Some issues to consider when reviewing your situation:

1. Is your per player budget anywhere near football, men's basketball and women's basketball? This is important because, in theory, if two men's sports are funding at $5,000 per player, then two women's sports must be funded at that level.

2. Does volleyball relinquish practice time or move practice time to an undesirable hour to accommodate a sport that is out of season? Too many times, volleyball must give up gym time so basketball can play pick-up games or conduct out of season individual/group training sessions.

3. Is the volleyball team travelling in vans, that you drive, while another team rides in buses?

4. Does your school promote/market volleyball? Are there pep rallies being held for other sports? Does volleyball enjoy comparable media support? Are there specific marketing programs in place? Does the band come play at matches? If other sports can say yes, then volleyball should be receiving the same support.

5. What is your salary or coaching stipend? You should be in-line with the male sport coaches at your school.

6. If you are a college coach, do you have a contract - not an employment letter, but a multi-year contract with termination only for cause? This is significant, because EVERY college football or basketball coach has a multi-year, cause only contract.

As a coach, you feel something is not fair, you must take a hard look and determine if they are significant enough to merit taking legal action. Sometimes, all you need to do is reference legal action or threaten a lawsuit and things will change.

At one school, I sat through a long meeting requested by the Men's Basketball coach with the Athletic Director because he was upset that Women's Volleyball had the gym each afternoon for practice and he wanted to use the gym for pick-up basketball games during that time frame.

After confirming with the Basketball coach that he was demanding that volleyball vacate the gym during the season, so Basketball could play pick-up games before their team practice commenced, I turned to the Athletic Director and stated that if an in season female team is being told to vacate the floor for an out of season male team, then we need to schedule a meeting with the school's General Counsel to visit about Title 9 issues. The Athletic Director's response was to look at the Basketball coach and say that Volleyball had the floor until the start of their team training, and then the gym would be shared equally until Volleyball was done with their season.

Unfortunately, it was not until the threat of a lawsuit or a Title 9 mention, that the Volleyball program received support. There was no hesitation by the Men's Basketball program to demand that Volleyball negatively impact our program to benefit them, and the Athletic Director allowed such a meeting to happen.

Don't be afraid of considering a lawsuit if you feel the situation merits one. If your program does not receive equal support (budget, equipment, promotions, media) or you feel that a discriminatory practice exists (denied access to facilities, no multi-year contract, hostile attitude towards you or volleyball), then you have two choices - Either leave that school and hope the next school is better or demand equal treatment by using the law.

If you decide to consider a lawsuit, you must visit with an attorney who handles such situations - don't rely on this website or the experience/advice of other coaches. Go see a lawyer, even if you have to pay to have an appointment, because the lawyer will be able to examine your case and determine if there are legal grounds for a suit and the probability of that suit being determined in your favor!

Volleyball Christmas Wish List

Dear Santa:

I have been a good college volleyball coach this year - We had the best volleyball season in the history of the school, the players all seem to get along and have a good attitude, I give them plenty of time off to study and have a life outside of volleyball, and I have only received one red card this season.

For Christmas, I really want just one thing - I want the USA Women's Olympic Volleyball team to win a Gold Medal at the Beijing Games. I know I have to wait over 8 months for my present, but it is so important to me, that I will be patient.

For NCAA women's team sports, the success of the National teams in the Olympics has a significant positive impact upon the support for the corresponding college sport. For some reason, the only time that anyone gets to see any elite level women's volleyball repeatedly in prime time, major network, nationwide coverage is in the Olympics. When the team has a poor tournament, which has happened too often lately, our sport misses a great opportunity.

The USA Women's Soccer team and USA Softball team have done fantastic in the last few Olympics and those college sports have really surged in popularity and support. I am seeing more college softball (on ESPN prime time in fact) and college soccer than at any time that I can remember. I don't want to be negative, but I do not think these sports can compare to the speed and athleticism of college volleyball.

If our Women's Olympic Volleyball team can win in China, then we could enjoy a boost in college volleyball support. It has been so long since we got near a medal, that if we won the gold, a whole new generation of fans would be born. These fans would see just how physical the game is, just how athletic the players are, the intense emotion and best of all, the fans would be watching USA volleyball! This could be the foundation of increased popularity and support for college volleyball in the years to come.

Thank you for reading my letter Santa and I hope my wish will come true.

The Coach

PS - About that red card, I did not swear and it was the down official who gave it to me!

Maximize your Official Visit

The Official Visit has lost some of its importance in the recruiting process for Division I Volleyball recruits and programs, particularly in the upper Division I ranks. If you, the Prospective Student Athlete (PSA) have already made a verbal commitment before an Official Visit, then your trip should be much more relaxed and low key.

On the other hand, if you have not made a verbal commitment to any school and are using Official Visits as the means to make the determination of where you will spend the next 4 to 5 years, you must maximize your visit. Per NCAA rules you are only allowed to take 1 Official Visit per school and you can only accept a total of 5 Official Visits all schools.

Here are some suggestions, born of the experience of going through Official Visits as a PSA and hosting a significant number of Official Visits as a head coach.

1. Have your parent(s) accompany you on the visit - they will see things that you may miss with regards to facilities, classes, campus safety, etc. Per NCAA rules, the host school cannot pay for the transportation of your parents (unless the family drives together), but once your folks are there, the school is allowed to cover everything for them.

2. Ask to stay with a member of the team in a Freshman Residence Hall. That super nice dorm room the program showed you, could be just for Juniors and Seniors. You need to know exactly the type of room you will be staying in the next two years.

3. When you go out to eat, make sure you eat WHATEVER looks good to you! Don't be shy - the program has a specific recruiting budget and that budget is allocated to try and convince you to attend their school. Also, have at least a lunch or dinner in the school cafeteria; this is the only way to see the quality of the meals and how many healthy eating options are available.

4. While it may be fun to see a match, it is more important to see a practice (not a pre-game serve and pass, but a normal practice). A volleyball practice will show you just how that program operates. Is the coach positive or negative in a training environment, how much technical instruction is presented, are the drills play oriented or repetition oriented, do the players work hard with a good attitude or are they just going through the motions - these are all things that a match will not illustrate completely.

5. Schedule an academic meeting with the person who is in charge of academics for the Athletic Department. If you are fortunate enough to know what you want to study, make sure that this discipline is available and have the staff member lay-out the process for you to graduate with that degree. Should you have a general idea or two about what possible degree excites you, make sure that school has those academic majors available. I know of too many transfer situations where the PSA choose the school for athletic reasons and not academic reasons.

6. Research the next year's roster and ask specific questions about where you fit in. If you are an outside hitter and the team has three starting sophomores who are also outside hitters, the reality is you may not seeing a lot of playing time as a freshman. Conversely, if the team is currently laden with senior outside hitters, are you going to be expected to be an impact player your freshman year?

7. Ask about Team Policies - While the Athletic Department may have certain guidelines about player-team conduct, each program is usually left to determine their own conduct rules. What is the alcohol policy? Are there food-diet restrictions? Is there a dress code for home or away matches? Are the players supposed to live together? Are players allowed to live off campus? Ask these questions now, because you will be living with the answers for a number of years.

8. Attend a non-volleyball event. Get a feel for the general student body by seeing something other than volleyball. There is much more to college than just volleyball.

9. Find out about summer school and 5th year funding. Each school determines how it handles these two topics and unfortunately, the answers vary by sport. You must find out this information because it will have a big impact upon your summer plans and the financial obligation beyond the offered scholarship.

10. Spend as much time as possible with the younger players on the team. These are the people you will be interacting with on a very personal level for the next few years. By watching a training session and asking specific questions during your meetings, you can get a good feel for the 'adults' at the school. If you like the players that you spend time with, then you are already on your way to having a good college experience. If the Official Visit does not allow you to spend quality time with the younger players, this should be a concern.

The Official Visit lasts for 48 hours - you can be physically on the campus for that long. Maximize your two days by applying some or all of the ten items listed above!!!

Recruiting Video Tapes

If you decide to be your own recruiting service or you pay for a recruiting service, you should make a video tape. The only Prospective Student Athletes (PSA's) that I would exempt from this recommendation are those fortunate players that have been blessed with an abundance of volleyball ability and play with a top flight junior volleyball club team - these players will be seen and recruited.

For the rest of us, we need to catch the eye of college volleyball programs by making a video tape. With volleyball recruit video tapes, there are three varieties - the skills tape, the game footage tape and a combination of both.

As a college coach, I prefer to see more skills demonstration on the video tape and less game footage. A video tape that is all game footage, while the easiest to put together by Dad (or Mom), probably showcases your ability the least - how good is the competition, was the setting or passing not good that day for your team, was it the first or last match of a tournament, how often do you actually touch the ball during a game. For example, if you are a Middle Blocker, how long does it take for a slide play to happen on the video tape to show how good you are at hitting slides? Is there more than one?

The best tapes focus on skills. A skills driven video tape allows the college coach to see, repeatedly, how good you are at your positional skills. We can guesstimate how high your approach touch is, we can quickly see how fast you load your attack elbow, it is clear whether you pop pass or follow through, do you deep dish your sets or is your release quick - many, many things that we can see in a skills tape, do not show up clearly in a game tape.

When you make a skills tape, the first thing to do is just relax. If you don't think you are doing well, then you just start again. The erase button is the best feature when doing a skills tape. You should focus on those skills that are specific to your position: Middle Blockers should show all the attack options that they can hit, blocking footwork right and left, transition footwork from blocking to attacking. Setters need to illustrate setting every possible attack option and setting from all the various zones on the court, along with end blocking movement and technique. Outside Hitters need to go through all the outside attack and combination attacks, show how you receive serve and your defensive movement. Liberos should be all about serve receive and defensive movement. For each position, focus on the main responsibility of the position.

Try to stay away from any lengthy video on non-essential areas. Two things that I see on video tapes that are not really necessary are a long introduction by the player and showing long sections of skills that are not really applicable to the college position (middle blockers in serve receive) - especially serving; college coaches trust that you can serve - we don't need to see it on a tape unless it is something unreal!

College Volleyball is a skill specialized sport. With the Libero and 15 substitutions, the game is even more position specific than in club volleyball. Focus on what your position does in college (attend a college match to see first hand) and video tape yourself doing that repeatedly to the best of your abilities. I would rather watch an additional 3 minutes of hitting from an outside hitter than 3 minutes of serving.

By and large, the video tape is just something shiny to attract the attention of college coaches, especially early in the recruiting process. It is rare that a college coach would offer a significant scholarship based solely on a tape. In Division I, the coaches will make the effort to come see you play in person. In Division II, you can join in a training session while visiting a college, so the coach can see you in person.

I use the term video tape, because the VHS format is the all around best bet to be seen. The world of DVD's and web-site hosted footage can still be a bit tricky. In my office, I have a desktop computer with the latest media package and a stand alone DVD player, yet I still sometimes have issues with getting something to play. In fact, the day that I write this, I could not watch the DVD that a recruit just sent to me. With a VHS, I always can watch the video.
After you have put together a video tape that you are comfortable with, it is time to get those out to colleges. Be realistic about where you are sending your tapes. Don't send one to Oregon if you live in Ohio and don't want to go far from home for college - Stanford is not going to be interested in a 5'9" middle blocker! Make more copies of the tape than you think you could need - it is better to have too many than not enough.

When you send out the tape/DVD, be sure to do two things - 1) Send it in a padded envelope; the postal service can be quite rough, 2) Include a quick guide to the video (skills or game footage, jersey number and color) along with your latest volleyball bio that clearly shows your name, graduation year, e-mail, telephone number and current club volleyball team.

Recruiting Services - Companies

For many Potential Student Athletes (PSA), the biggest challenge of the recruiting process is to get his/her name out to colleges and universities. A valid concern because not every family has the financial ability or residential location to compete with a top flight junior volleyball club team.

To help with presenting PSA's to colleges, there exist a number of Recruiting Services or Companies available to families. As you might expect, they range from expensive to free, and from comprehensive to a waste of paper.

Let's start with Free! Yes, there are a number of recruiting services that are free to PSA's - these services are paid for by the colleges and universities that subscribe to that specific company. One service was Bill Feldman's American Volleyball Scouting Report, which focused on the greater mid west, but also had a few national updates. Bill's service was/is probably the most well known and enjoys large subscriber numbers, but Bill is going to shift his report to an international focus with his personal desire to live in Europe. A new recruiting company has come forward, modeled upon the same lines, College Volleyball Recruiting Services by Scott Carter. Another service based in Southern California and focusing on California athletes is run by the Lantange's, a long time member of the sport. I can't remember the exact name of the service, as I have never subscribed to it, but I have seen the materials, via other programs, and believe it is similar to the ones listed above. This is not a comprehensive list, as I have heard of others that are regionally focused, but I can't recall specific names.

There are a few positives with the recruiting services that are paid for by the colleges; the programs will definitely review information on players submitted by the service; if a player is listed on the service, then they are pre-qualified (to borrow a banking term) for college volleyball, the player information presented by these agencies is very comprehensive and the PSA's do not pay anything to be listed.

If an individual contacts you about obtaining information for a recruiting service, the first thing you should ask is if this recruiting service is paid for by the colleges or by the players. If it is paid for by the colleges, I strongly encourage you to submit the information as quickly and completely as possible. Because the service has contacted you, they have already decided that you will be attractive to those colleges that subscribe to their service and they are just needing to complete your profile. But, if they don't have your contact information, your academic information or college preferences, then they may have to delay putting your name into a current mailing to colleges.

The second type of a recruiting service are those that the PSA pays for. There are too many of these type of companies to list. If you do a simple computer search for 'volleyball recruiting', you will have any number of listings pop up. These companies can range from comprehensive to just a poor use of a tree. A few suggestions; 1) determine if the company is volleyball specific or supports all sports, 2) does the company use e-mail, postal mail or FAX, 3) can the company attach a skills video clip to an e-mail or does it have a quick link to a skills video on a host website, 4) does the company address the e-mail/mailing specifically to the coach by name, or is it just a 'Dear Coach' introduction.

In general, you want to consider those companies that are volleyball specific and combine e-mail-postal mail introductions of you, along with having a skills video clip available. NCAA volleyball programs receive a large number of PSA paid recruiting service e-mails-postal mails per week, with some of the well known Division I programs getting 10 to 20 a day. Since almost all the better focused and funded Division I teams subscribe to some type of recruiting service, there is not a big motivation to seriously review these PSA paid for recruiting services. Because of this, having a service that can link your video quickly is important. The odds are much better that someone will take a quick look at your video, if it is readily available, rather than contact you to request a video or make arrangements to see you play in person, based on a sheet of paper.

The services that I strongly suggest you stay away from, are those that just FAX out information to a mass list of contacts with no link to a video. The ones that I receive are of poor physical quality, they tend to not be complete in the information provided (no updated academic information, the club information is blank, there is no listing for an approach or block touch, etc.) and they just look like they were thrown together to make money for the service. These FAX services quickly find their way into the recycling bin of a majority of college programs.

If you feel you need assistance presenting yourself to potential college volleyball programs, then a recruiting service may be in your best interest. Maybe you will be fortunate enough to be listed on a service that charges the colleges, but if not, be very selective about what service you pay for to present your abilities.

Various NCAA Terms

There are many NCAA terms that anyone going through the recruiting process should know about - Keep in mind, this is not a complete list, but it should help. There may be slight variations between NCAA Division I, II and III. The EXACT definitions can be found at www.ncaa.org

Prospective Student Athlete - PSA: Any athlete that has entered the 9th grade of high school. When the PSA enters 9th grade, a myriad of NCAA rules kick in.

Unofficial Visit: A campus visit paid for by the PSA. The host institution is not allowed to cover any expenses (DII can pay for a lunch on campus). A PSA is allowed an unlimited number of Unofficial Visits to a single campus or any number of campuses. The coaching staff is prohibited from any contact off-campus (i.e. touring around the town or eating off campus). The PSA can spend the night with a team member, if they pay the usual overnight rate available to any visiting student.

Official Visit: The host institution pays for the cost of the visit - this includes travel to and from campus, all meals, lodging and admission to campus events. Also, the host institution can cover all expenses (except travel) for parents/guardians who accompany the PSA. The length of the visit is 48 hours from the time the PSA arrives on campus. Only one visit per host institution is allowed and a PSA is limited to a total of five Official Visits to NCAA Division I schools.

The current trend is for a PSA/family to make a number of preliminary Unofficial Visits during the Junior year, then take a couple of Official Visits at a later time to make a decision on a commitment or they take an Official Visit after they have made a verbal commitment. For many Division I programs, the Official Visit has lost its significance before making a decision and is rather a relaxed trip for the PSA to hang out with their new team.

NCAA Clearinghouse: The Clearinghouse is the mechanism that NCAA member schools use to verify Initial Eligibility of incoming Student Athletes. This process includes verifying a certain number of core classes, grade point average and the SAT/ACT test scores. Each division of the NCAA uses a slightly different combination of grade point average (with the core classes only) and test scores to determine eligibility. You register for the NCAA Clearinghouse (http://www.ncaaclearinghouse.net/) online and submit documentation directly to them, not to the college/university.

Quiet Period: This means that no off campus activity is allowed by a coaching staff - coaches can't go to high schools or junior events to scout players. But, PSA's can come to a campus on an Official or Unofficial Visit.

Dead Period: In a nutshell, nothing can happen other than allowable correspondence - no off campus recruiting, no on campus visits (Unofficial or Official) even if the PSA is on a campus for another event, there still can be no contact/interaction with the volleyball staff.

Written Correspondence: This term includes e-mail, along with all traditional post mail. A PSA can mail/send e-mail at any time, but a college is only allowed to send one introduction letter/questionnaire before September 1st of a PSA's Junior Year. After September 1st, there is no limit as to the number of letters/e-mails a school may send.

Telephone Correspondence: Included with this is instant/text messaging communication. A PSA may call, at their own expense, a coach at anytime and there is no restriction on what they can visit about. Since the regulations state that a college coach may not place telephone calls/text messages to a PSA before July 1st of their Senior Year, a college coach cannot return any voice mails left for them by a PSA.

Again, this is just a sample of the many terms that comprise the NCAA rules and if you need exact definitions, go to www.ncaa.org. Please don't hesitate to drop me an e-mail if you need something explained.

Ask The Coach a Question

College Volleyball can be a confusing thing at times - Recruiting, NCAA Rules and Definitions, Playing Divisions, Coaching Changes, Rule Changes. Oh, by the way, it changes every year!

If you are a player, parent, high school coach or hopefull college coach and have questions about College Volleyball - drop me an e-mail at collegevolleyballcoach@gmail.com

PER NCAA RULES, I CAN ONLY ANSWER/POST YOUR (OR YOUR PARENT'S) QUESTION IF YOU ARE A CURRENT JUNIOR AND OLDER IN HIGH SCHOOL - OR IF YOU HAVE NOT STARTED YOUR FRESHMAN YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL.

The NCAA rules are the rules!!!

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